GB2599784A

GB2599784A - A method of securing a door from lock picking

Info

Publication number: GB2599784A
Application number: GB2111828.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mark Perryman Stuart
Original assignee: UK Secretary of State for Defence
Current assignee: UK Secretary of State for Defence
Priority date: 2020-08-24
Filing date: 2021-08-18
Publication date: 2022-04-13
Also published as: WO2022043645A1; GB202013178D0; GB202111828D0

Abstract

The method, particularly for securing a door 4, comprises providing a security device 1 comprising an upper section 2 with a hoop or hook shaped to hang from a doorhandle 5 on an interior side of the door and a slot shaped to position over a thumbturn or key 6, and positioning the hoop or hook over the doorhandle with the slot over the thumbturn or key so as to retain the thumbturn or key in a locked orientation, preventing rotation thereof to an unlocked orientation. The device is weighted to remain stably in position. Also claimed are a method for designing a device suitable for use in the method and a device suitable for the method, the device optionally being a substantially unitary and substantially flat element.

Description

A method of securing a door from lock picking The present invention relates to the field of door security, particularly against lock picking, and is particularly relevant to modern uPVC exterior doors of the type that are currently common in domestic premises.

Lock picking devices are known which can cause a variety of modern locks to turn if they have a thumb turn device on the inside or if the key has been left in the inside. This poses a security risk since some criminals are known to use such techniques to gain unlawful entry.

A known approach to preventing lockpicking of thumb turn devices is available in one design to fit a limited range of doors, and is screwed to the door around the location of the thumbturn, and has a slot which is sprung to permit it to be flipped up to go around the thumbturn or key, preventing it turning. This approach has the disadvantage of requiring strong hinged parts of metal which increases manufacturing costs, which makes it difficult to offer suitably varied designs to suit the various shapes of thumbturn devices and keys on the market.

Another thumbturn security device is disclosed in CA1063646. This design is resiliently flexible so as to press against the door, and bias against an inside surface of the door handle, such as to clamp itself in position, in order to hold a slot over a thumbturn device which is located above the door handle. To open the door from the inside, the user must forcibly bend the resilient material away from the door, and slide the contraption downwards away from the thumbturn device.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a more convenient security device.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of securing a door from lock picking as set out in claim 1. According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of desiging a thumbturn security device as set out in claim 2.

This has the advantage of providing a more convenient solution.

Preferably the thumbturn security device is of plastic. Preferably it is of unitary construction (e.g. lacking the sprung hinge of the prior art device). Preferably it is weighted to hang from the door handle such that it automatically hangs such as to position the slot close to -ideally over -the thumbturn or key. Optionally it is of substantially planar construction.

Generally the thumbturn security device has open or closed holes therein, for the door handle and thumbturn/key respectively. Optionally the hole for the door handle forms a hook rather than a hoop. Optionally the hole for the thumbturn/key is a closed slot.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the figures in which: Figure 1 is a front view of a prior art device, and Figure 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

Turning to figure 1, an existing device is shown for preventing a thumb turn device. The device is screwed or otherwise fastened permanently onto the door around the thumb turn, and needs to be sized to fit between the thumb turn and door handle and to avoid extending to the door frame as this could present a finger trap hazard. The approach requires generally metal or more expensive components to resist rotation of the thumbturn. As such to provide different versions for different thumb turn devices or different doors is more expensive.

Figure 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention. The thumbturn security device 1 has a lower section with a slot (either a '0' shape, or an 'n' or 'u' shape) 3 arranged to be seated around the thumbturn or key 6 and sized to prevent it turning, and an upper section 2 with a hook or hoop shape, sized to fit over the doorhandle 5, substantially parallel with the doorframe. Preferably the handle is shaped such that placing your hand on the handle and turning it does not immediately or necessarily dislodge the device 1 from the door handle. Preferably the device is shaped to remain stable on the door handle when the door handle is depressed by a user.

The spacing between the hood/loop for the door handle and the slot for the thumbturn should be chosen to suit a particular door or particular range of door types. For example many modern uPVC doors have handles and thumbturns of very standardised format and shape and placement.

Since the device can be unitary, and does not need a hinge, it can be of a more affordable material and/or construction, such as ABS plastic e.g. cut from sheet or 3D printed. Being flat and able to hang makes it convenient to move it to turn the thumb-turn or key, or leave it over the thumbturn or key to resist movement.

More generally a thumbturn device 1 is provided with a hanger 2, to hang it from a doorhandle 5 to position a slot 3 over the thumbturn or key 6 that is below the doorhandle. The device may be flat and of unitary construction, providing a simple mechanism that provides convenient control over whether the thumbturn/key is free to turn or not. Further embodiments are set out in the claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method of securing a door from lock picking comprising the steps of: Providing a door within a doorframe of an exterior wall of a building, the door having a lock comprising a thumbturn or key extending from the lock on the interior side of the door and having a predetermined locked orientation, and a handle above the lock; Providing a thumbturn security device, comprising: - a hoop or hook, shaped to allow the thumbturn security device to be hung from the door handle, - an element with a slot shaped such that when the hoop/hook is over the doorhandle, the slot may be positioned over the thumbturn/key and is sized and shaped to retain the thumbturn/key in a locked orientation, and to prevent rotation of the thumbturn/key to an unlocked orientation, wherein the thumbturn security device is weighted and the slot sized and shaped, such that when the hoop/hook is hung over the doorhandle, and the slot is arranged about the thumbturn/key, the thumbturn security device will remain stably but removably in that position, and Positioning the hoop/hook over the door handle and the slot over the thumbturn/key to prevent rotation thereof by a person outside the exterior wall of the building.
2. A method of designing a thumbturn security device of claim 1, for the interior side of a door for an exterior wall, the interior side of the door having a predetermined door having a handle arranged in use above a predetermined thumbturn/key, wherein the method comprises the step of: Determining a weighting of the thumbturn security device, and determining a sizing and shaping of the slot, such that when the hoop/hook is hung over the doorhandle, and the slot is arranged about the thumbturn/key, the thumbturn security device will remain stably but removably in that position.
3. A thumbturn security device for use in the method of claim 1, for the interior side of a door for an exterior wall, the interior side of the door having a predetermined door having a handle arranged in use above a predetermined thumbturn/key, comprising: -a hoop or hook, shaped to allow the thumbturn security device to be hung from a door handle; -an element with a slot; wherein the thumbturn security device is weighted such that when the hoop/hook is hung over the doorhandle, the slot may be arranged below the doorhandle and the thumbturn security device will remain stably but removably in that position
4. A thumbturn security device of claim 3, being a substantially unitary, and substantially flat element.